Strip
by daphnebeauty
Summary: He could only stare as Kate lifted one of those sinfully high heels, wrapped her leg around the pole, and spun.
1. Chapter 1

**Strip**

A story by daphnebeauty

* * *

Chapter One:

"I just don't understand why I can't be in there with you."

"Because it's not my op, Castle. You know that."

"But I'm your partner."

She laid her hand flat on his chest and stroked down the lapel of his jacket. They were somewhat hidden behind the navy blue surveillance van parked across the street from Warehouse X. The pinks and blues of the neon lights flickered in various stages of defeat in the store windows of the street. They painted his skin and threw his face into a sharp and craggy relief.

"I know. But tonight I'm with James."

He looked off to the side, a true pout pushing his chin forward. She leaned in to quickly kiss the rough skin of his jaw, where the stubble always grew faster. He drew in a long breath and rested his hands on her hips before turning in to peck her lips with a short kiss of acceptance.

"Fine, fine. I'll just wait in the van."

She smiled, glad he was attempting to throw off his funk at being left behind. "You know, Castle, James will have a cam and mic on the whole time so you won't miss a thing."

"All right. I guess that will be kind of cool. Will you have an earpiece?"

"No, but he will. They might search me, but he's already in good with the place. They trust him."

"Then why exactly does he need you, again?"'

She stepped away from his hands and gave him a firm look, his reluctance finally wearing on her nerves. "Because I've got the legs to work a pole and the experience to not blow James' cover."

He opened his mouth to respond, but Detective David James rounded the corner of the van and approached them.

"Get dressed, Beckett. We've gotta roll in twenty."

He handed her a bag of clothes but she pushed it back towards him.

"No thanks. I've got my own stuff."

"Your choice, but don't look too nice. You're supposed to look desperate enough to actually be with me." He winked.

She rolled her eyes. "No amount of clothing's gonna help you there, James."

"Ah, these gorgeous women and their smart mouths, am I right?" He nudged Castle who grunted, nodded his head, and attempted a smile, looking pained. "Well, anyway. I'll see you in twenty. Hopefully this will be a fast gig. We just need for him to make the offer, take us to the back, and tell you what your new job requirements are. Bring the bastard down, simple."

"Sounds good."

James turned and left with another wink.

"He winks too much." Castle stared after the man's back as he walked away.

"Castle."

"No, really. Is there something in his eye? Maybe a chronic muscle spasm?"

"Castle."

"I don't like him."

"He's fine. You're just jealous because he gets to be undercover and you don't."

"That's not why I'm jealous, Beckett."

Her eyebrows rose and her speech was stunned for just a moment. They'd been together for four months now and some random detective with a strong jaw was setting him off? _Really?_ "Castle, don't. It's just a job and he's not even undercover as my boyfriend. More like a pimp, if anything."

"That really makes me feel better. Doesn't even have to act like he respects you, then."

"Castle, seriously. Stop."

He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and squeezed until the skin turned white. She waited him out as he took a deep breath and then finally looked back at her.

"Right. You're right. It's nothing. Go get dressed, Kate. I'm going to go set up in the van. This will probably be gold for some Nikki inspiration."

She smiled at him and cupped his cheek. Leaning forward, she placed a slow kiss to the dimple in his chin and then to his throat as it bobbed.

"I'll be done soon. James will have my back; Esposito says he's good."

He squeezed her hand before releasing and then winking exaggeratedly as he walked away. "Get him quick, Kate. I've got plans for you tonight." Yanking open the back door of the van, he climbed inside.

* * *

The music in Warehouse X was overwhelming and heady. Kate pulled up on the lace-lined cups of her bustier, shifting her breasts into a more prominent and less comfortable position. She and James stood in the entry of the club as he searched the establishment for his mark.

James leaned in close and spoke into her ear over the music, "I don't see our guy right now. He must be in the back. Let's sit."

She nodded with her game face on, slipping quickly into character. They sat a few tables away from the stage where three women posed in various stages of sexual contortion on poles. A waiter grabbed James a scotch and cola and her a vodka on ice that she swirled idly in her hand. She took a small sip and refused to let the burn of the alcohol on her tongue and throat show on her disinterested face.

Setting the drink down on the table between them, she watched as a woman bent over for the growing crowd. People were clustered in front of the stage and between the first rows of tables, they danced hedonistically to rhythms that pumped endlessly through the speakers. She crossed her legs, feeling her thigh high fishnets stretch and pull marginally down her leg. She ran a finger under one and snapped it back up.

"You don't have to start seducing yet, Kate," James spoke into her ear, nodding at her thighs. "He's not even in the room yet. Damn you're good undercover. I'd heard, but had no idea."

"Yeah, well. I don't like to break character once I'm in it. You never know who's watching. Speaking of, is that our guy?"

A man in an all black suit was emerging from a door across the club, looking like he owned the place. If it was indeed Vince Balen, then it was probably because he did.

"Yup, that's our guy." He rose and stood above her. "Get ready to sell it, Beckett."

* * *

This guy.

This guy was a piece of work.

If the view of the camera stream they were getting was any reliable yardstick of his nature, Castle thought that maybe the guy had a permanent kink in his neck that forced him to constantly stare at Kate's chest, legs, ass, and mouth. It was hard to tell for sure because the cam was on his button, but Castle knew. He knew where this guy's eyes were.

The view jolted and rocked as James stood and looked down at Kate in her chair, swirling her drink with one hand and looking up through her lashes. With her dark smoky eyes and black corset, she looked like a wet dream gone right, even through the grainy feed of the camera. Castle clenched his teeth when James' view lingered on the tantalizing plunge of darkness between her breasts.

They'd found Balen. The camera swayed as they walked towards the man clad in black and Castle squinted to push away his bourgeoning nausea. James dodged a table in his path and ended up behind Kate, watching her sway in those tight jean shorts.

It wasn't her normal walk. She'd changed her stride to be more "Kate the desperate, beautiful, ambiguously foreign pole dancer" rather than "Kate the confident and unbearably sexy detective". She was so good at her job; Castle couldn't help a smile of pride and respect.

"Vince man, how are ya?" James reached out a hand and shook Balen's.

The man didn't even glance over at Beckett, his face stony and not at all the picture of "trust" they'd been promised. "Fine, fine. Been a couple days since you've been in. Thought you might've found a new joint to frequent. Didn't know how this place would ever survive without your patronage."

"Don't be like that, Vince. I brought you a present. Just like I said I would."

Balen finally looked over Kate briefly. "I see that. Is she the talent you were talking about?"

"The one and only. Look at that face, Vince. She's good meat. And you should see her work a pole. Best butter in town."

Castle fought the urge to vomit, disgusted with how they talked about Kate. He watched as interest marginally flickered over Balen's features. He took his time looking Kate over this time, stepping forward and narrowing his eyes. James turned so that Castle could see both of them in the shot.

Kate had her chin lowered but her eyes were meeting Balen's. Shy, but daring. Her hands fidgeted in front of her before she brought her pinky up and rested it against her lip, flickering a smile at the imposing man before her.

He turned to James.

"She'd be wasted here. Get her to a modeling agency. We've got no room for wholesome in this place."

"Wholesome? No. I'm telling you, she'll blow your mind. If your afraid she'll blow the rest of your talent off the stage, then fine, yeah, I'll take her somewhere else."

"I've got the best in town. We both know that. And she doesn't fit here."

"You're never gonna see one as good as her again. I'm tellin' ya, Vince."

Balen opened his mouth and Castle's heart raced with the anticipation of rejection. But then Kate was in the camera's view again, placing her hand on Balen's arm. Her voice was husky with hints of a non-specific Eastern European accent.

"Let me show you. Let me prove to you how…good I can be."

"I've got no room for new talent on stage, Dave. Nothing." Balen looked down at Beckett, still hanging lightly on his arm. She bit her lip and Castle held his breath. "But I might have something else for you. If she's as good as you say."

Castle looked over at the team next to him in the van. They were nodding and bumping fists with the success.

* * *

This was so not good.

She adjusted her bustier again, following Balen and James through the door in the back of Warehouse X. She eyed the muscle framing the threshold and made note that they looked like more than run of the mill bouncers. Balen had pros guarding his back room.

The hall was dark, but significantly quieter than the main room. The walls must have had some serious soundproofing. They walked at a moderate pace, before reaching a room at the end of the hall. Balen opened the door and entered first, James and Beckett following.

It was dark in the room and the steady beat of a bass in the background marked the tempo for the half naked woman dancing for a handful of men seated on various pieces of furniture. None were watching the show, all discussing something over papers and cigars.

"Boys, put the work away. I've got a new prospect for upstairs." He turned to the dancer who was still twisting and bending. "Dana, take a break. We need the pole."

Beckett's stomach plummeted. A try out? She just wanted to get Balen alone and get the admission of the shady upstairs activities out of him. This was more than she'd bargained for tonight. She hid her growing anxiety beneath the façade of her cover, but her eyes darted to James. It was his op so she'd follow his lead. Surely, he'd have a way to get this thing back on a track that didn't involve her sliding awkwardly around a pole.

His face was calm and detached, but his eyes gave him away. He was floundering for a plan as much as she was.

"Vince, man, we don't need to—"

Kate's heart thudded hard in her chest, a rote response to watching a cover get blown. James sounded too desperate. They could still save this thing if he didn't push.

She stepped in close, drawing Balen's eyes away from James' increasingly panicked ones. Slowly making her way towards the man that owned the room, she chose her words carefully and tinged them with the accent she'd adopted.

"So, Mr. Balen. What exactly do you want me to do for your men?"

"Whatever it is that makes you so good."

"Oh, but I'm so very good at so very many things." She twirled a piece of hair between two fingers and watched in her periphery as Balen's men adjusted in their chairs, already hooked. She let her eyes play over the table of men and then shifted her hips.

"I can see you've certainly got subtle seduction down. Something we like to see upstairs." Balen's voice was unaffected.

"What else do you like to see upstairs?"

"We expect a little…more from the girls upstairs. But don't you worry, we take good care of our money-makers. And their…agents." His eyes darted towards James and then back to Kate. "Now if you're done asking questions, then it's time to see if you're as good as Dave says."

He nodded to a man with a moustache and small forehead who proceeded to press a few buttons on a remote. The music stopped abruptly, starting back up again with harder, faster beats. It rolled through Kate's chest, almost deafening her from the inside and pushing pace with her quickening pulse.

"Dance."

Kate moved toward the stage at the command, drowning in the thick rhythm and smoke of the room. She had a small amount of experience with pole dancing from a brief undercover stint in Vice, but nothing elaborate. Looking back at James, she ran a hand slowly down the pole to see if he'd worked out a plan yet. The helpless look on his face said no. Refusing to lose the mission, she shifted a hand through her hair, bit her lip, and looked out at the room through the window of her arm.

* * *

tbc...

COVER ART BY MJSOFTER!


	2. Chapter 2

**Strip**

A story by daphnebeauty

* * *

Chapter Two:

Holy shit.

Castle turned to the men in the van, all their eyes glued to the streaming video of his girlfriend about to…do things.

"Hey. Guys. I think we need to get them out of there. Get a task force ready or something She's not an actual stripper. They're gonna get made!"

None of the men pulled their eyes from the screen, but one managed to respond, "James is the lead. He hasn't given us a signal to pull them out. They stay in."

"Well, if we wait much longer, she's going to have to…" His voice fell away as Kate began to move. The feed was coarse in the dark, but he could see her every move. She was taking long steps around the pole, endless legs testing her work area. Gripping the pole in one slender hand, she planted her heels and let gravity bring her around.

The music was too loud, coming in through James' mic and echoing off the metal sides of the van. A filthy beat with scattered words about getting _satisfaction_ reverberated over and over and over in a trance that kept his heart beating in fear and arousal. He wasn't blinking. He could only stare as Kate lifted one of those sinfully high heels, wrapped her leg around the pole and spun.

She threw her head back and her long hair trailed all the way down her back to tease the waist of her tight shorts.

"Holy shit." Detective James' voice came loud and breathy through the mic. A great beast of jealousy surged through his chest and threaded through his muscles. He clenched his hands on the arms of the chair and cursed his utter helplessness in the situation. Kate's body slithered low before slowly rising against the pole in the most utterly sinful way he'd ever seen her move.

Through the microphone, James coughed once and inhaled sharply, the camera jiggling as his body shifted. Castle rolled his chair towards the guy with the connection to Detective James' earpiece.

"Can I see that for a second?" He reached out for the mic, but was shut down with an irritated glare.

"No."

He went back in for another grab. "It'll just take a second."

His hand was snatched at the wrist. Hard.

"No."

He grit his teeth and rolled back in the chair, eyes narrowing to watch Kate continue her dance in a room of dangerous, disgusting men and one mouth-breathing detective. Her body rolled along the pole, calf muscles straining and perfect in her heels. The tight denim of her shorts stretched enticingly over the curve of her ass as it wove a figure eight that dipped wickedly at the edges.

Castle felt the uncomfortable and unwelcome tightening in his jeans as he grew against his leg. He hated what she was doing, but she looked so damn good doing it. He tugged on the knees of his pants, trying to loosen some of the pressure. Pulling his eyes away from the screen, he sucked the van's stale oxygen into his lungs and pushed it out forcefully.

He needed to be in that room with her.

Just him.

"Wow. She's good," said one of the guys leaning against the back of the van, his eyes riveted to the screen. Castle clenched his fists and then refocused on Kate.

She was staring at Detective James, which meant she looked like she was gazing directly at each and every one of the men in the van. Her hands skimmed up her body, fingers tripping along the lace and satin of the corset. They pushed at her breasts before sliding into her thick hair and coming back down to grip at the hook and eye fasteners at her top.

The camera followed her as she turned and walked from the stage, heading straight for Balen and working her hips maddeningly. Stopping a breath away from him, she let her eyes dart to his lips before giving a succubine smile. With a flick of her fingers, five fasteners popped open and released the pressure of her cleavage. Castle felt the air rush out of him as he stared at her breasts, still covered but now separated and pushed enticingly forward.

With a hand to Balen's shoulder, she pushed him gently down into the chair. His face betrayed nothing, but neither did hers. The rest of the men sat in various shows of uncontrolled arousal. Mouths open, eyes unblinking, pants tightening.

The striptease had the feel of a private home show; there was none of the impersonal and sordid stage dancing of normal strippers. She was your unattainable high school crush, all grown up and finally baring herself for you. She was your neighbor's wife, off-limits and unbelievably sexy coming to you for what she wasn't getting at home. She was your co-worker, your wife, your fantasy come to life.

She was the woman you'd always wanted, but could never get, flowing around you and removing her clothes for your eyes alone.

She leaned forward over Balen and then Castle saw it.

The man's hand twitched and clinched on the seat.

He wanted her. They had him.

"We've got him! Guys, she sold it. Now get her out of there."

"Hey, this is the last time I say it, buddy. We wait for the word from James."

Castle had had enough. These guys were too busy staring at the way Kate's leg was currently sliding up between Balen's. So long. So smooth. So unnecessary.

He snatched for the microphone and brought it to his mouth before the officer in the van could even blink his eyes away from the television.

"Detective James, it's Castle."

The video feed rocked with the detective's surprise. Apparently he'd forgotten about his connection to the van, lost like everyone else in Kate's act. Castle knew James couldn't speak without blowing his cover so he continued, dodging the hand trying to reclaim the mic from him.

"Make the pitch again right now. You've gotta trust me. She's got him hook, line, and sinker. Step up and get her out of there."

To his surprise and relief, James moved toward Balen and Beckett. As the feed got closer, Castle's jealousy rose to new and almost intolerable levels. Their bodies were so close and through the madness of the music and intense sense of shadows, there was a wrongness of angle that pierced his eyes and heart.

Her hair fell in swirls, slowly sliding over her shoulders as she tiled her head back. Castle knew what it was to be where Balen was now. The tempting white of her throat, the sublimated cherry scent, the shimmer of sweat between her breasts, the powerful compulsion to be inside her. Surrounded by her. Driving her wild. Claiming her.

She was his. She was his. Not Balen's or James' or anyone else's.

She was his.

* * *

He was hers. She had him. She could see it in his eyes, could feel it in the tension of his thighs, no matter how cool he tried to keep his face. He'd give her what she wanted.

She'd wrap it up now before things went further.

Leaning in close enough to smell the cigar on his breath and in his clothes, she bit her lip and then lifted her other leg from the ground to straddle his lap. She let her hands drift down her body to slide a few fingers under the thigh highs, teasing them as she let her hips grind the air in small circles. Throwing her accent back into play, she drew his eyes back up to her face from where they had strayed to her hands.

"So, Mr. Balen. Do you like what you see?" Leaning in to his ear, she spread her legs just a little further, still not touching him. "Do you like what you…feel?"

Her breath washed over his neck and she felt it brush back against her own cheek. He cleared his throat and she could see a bead of sweat fall behind his ear from the tremor.

"You have a very special…ability. As long as you work every customer the way you just performed for me, I think we'll have a very special clientele that you'll appeal to."

She hummed into his ear and then brought her eyes to meet his, forcing them to drip with sex and lust.

"And when do I start my work for you, Mr. Balen?"

He turned away from her, hardly fazed by her seduction. He nodded his head at the man with the remote and the music suddenly went out, leaving the room disturbingly quiet. Shifting his attention to James, he spoke in an even voice.

"Dave. I'm ready to talk specifics."

Kate knew her cue. The meat was no longer needed. She rose from his lap and slipped the hooks of her corset back into place, sparing not a glance at the other men in the room who still ogled her body openly.

She looked over at James as he spoke to Balen. Hopefully some of those specifics included detailed descriptions of some sort of depraved, illicit sexual acts she'd be expected to perform. Or else all this would have been in vain. It was James' turn to pull through and get them what they needed.

She couldn't hear their hushed conversation, but suddenly both men turned to her. Detective James jerked his head at her in beckoning.

Balen spoke, "One more thing before we make this thing official. Are you clean?"

"Clean?"

"Yeah. STDs, VD, you know. Clean. Doesn't really matter what you say, we have all our upstairs girls checked regularly."

This was it. They were almost there.

James spoke for her, "Course she's clean, Balen. You think I'd bring you a dirty trick?"

"I've gotta ask. You know what that could do to our place? It's all word of mouth up there and something like that would shut me down."

"I am clean, yes. But why do you need to know? Am I not just stripping?" She let her brow furrow in slight confusion, careful not to show a sense of deterrence or reluctance.

Balen laughed.

"Oh, sweetheart. You know how these things work. You dance for the special customers. You please them. You do whatever it takes to make them leave happy."

"Whatever it takes?"

"You heard me. The pay is better than you'll find anywhere else, I'll tell you that."

He looked her up and down, narrowed his eyes.

"Now that I think about it, though. Girls as pretty as you aren't always great in the sack. Never had to be any good to keep a man, you know? They don't have to do the freaky things. The things my clients tend to ask for. Tell me, you any good?"

"I know how to leave a man more than satisfied."

"Can't just take your word for it." He smiled to himself before turning the lecherous force of it on her. "Might just need a second audition. Fucking the clients is half of what we pay you for."

She heard James clear his throat like an engine struggling to turn over. The signal for the teams to move in. They'd only have to sell it for a few more minutes.

"Not necessary, Vince. Lemmie tell ya, I've had it and it's top. Tighter than a fucking fist, you know? Feels like breaking virgin ground, except she knows how to take it like a champ. And give it back. Will ride you like a double-burred bronco, but'll take it any way you give it to her, man. And she's a hoover too. Nothin' off limits—"

_Ugh._

"Enough," Balen interrupted James' sales pitch with a slicing hand through the air. "Fine. I get a complaint and you're gone. Maybe I'll test the merchandise myself tomorrow."

His eyes raked once again over her body and she'd never been more thankful for her impenetrable poker face. They lingered on her chest where she hadn't managed to completely close the clasps at the front.

"Huh. Tits are real too. You're gonna make me a lot of money, honey."

"When does she start?"

"Tomorrow. Just her, Dave. She'll be under my control from now on. You'll get your commission, but unless you're paying to be back here, you stay out front."

"Right, yeah. Soon as I get my commission, I'm back to the glitter scene. More my style anyway. Definitely more my price range."

Kate wanted to get out of there. The team was probably working their way past the bouncers at this point, and while hopefully things would go smoothly, she felt more naked without her gun than she did without appropriate clothing.

Balen's phone rang and before Kate could even think what it meant, he'd stepped away from them to take the call. Meeting James' eyes, they both put two and two together at the same time. The bouncers had called Balen to warn him.

He knew.

She spun around in time to see the look of cold fury in his eyes as he reached inside his jacket to pull out a heavy gun. She dove for the ground and rolled toward Balen as the deafening shot shook the room. Without wasting a second, her leg struck out, swiping at his knees to knock them out from under him.

He fell hard and as she struggled to position herself to pin him, she heard James' voice bark a command to freeze. Looking up at the vice detective, she saw that he had a small back-up piece trained on Balen's fallen form.

"Vincent Balen, you are under arrest for pandering and aggravated assault. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"

* * *

tbc


End file.
